Oh Canada
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Jennifer Buchanan / The Herald
(Canon EOS-1D Mark IV, EF 400mm f2.8, ISO 800, 1/1600 sec., f2.8) The Canadian women's hockey team celebrates after beating the United States for the gold medal Thursday night.
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Jennifer Buchanan / The Herald
(Canon EOS-1D Mark IV, EF 400mm f2.8, ISO 800, 1/1600 sec., f2.8) US Julie Chu (bottom) looses her facemask as she's driven to the ground by Canada's Marie-Philip Poulin in the first.
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Jennifer Buchanan / The Herald
(Canon EOS-1D Mark IV, EF 400mm f2.8, ISO 800, 1/1600 sec., f2.8) US defenseman Angela Ruggiero sits on Canada's Gillian Apps in the third.
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Jennifer Buchanan / The Herald
(Canon EOS-1D Mark IV, EF 400mm f2.8, ISO 800, 1/1600 sec., f2.8) US goaltender Jessie Vetter just missed the puck as it sails into the goal in the first period.
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Jennifer Buchanan / The Herald
(Canon EOS-1D Mark IV, EF 400mm f2.8, ISO 800, 1/1600 sec., f2.8) Canadian players celebrate with Marie-Philip Poulin after her second goal in the first period put Canada up 2-0. In the foreground is the United State's Natalie Darwitz.
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Jennifer Buchanan / The Herald
(Canon EOS-1D Mark IV, EF 400mm f2.8, ISO 800, 1/1600 sec., f2.8) United States goalkeeper Jessie Vetter comes way out of her goal to block a shot by Canada's Sarah Vaillancourt.
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Jennifer Buchanan / The Herald
(Canon EOS-1D Mark IV, EF 400mm f2.8, ISO 800, 1/1600 sec., f2.8) The Canadian bench rushes the ice after they beat the USA 2-0 for the gold medal.
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Jennifer Buchanan / The Herald
(Canon EOS-1D Mark IV, EF 400mm f2.8, ISO 800, 1/1600 sec., f2.8) United States defender Molly Engstrom can't hide her sorrow after her team lost to Canada 2-0 for the gold medal Thursday night.
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Jennifer Buchanan / The Herald
(Canon EOS-1D Mark IV, EF 400mm f2.8, ISO 800, 1/1600 sec., f2.8) US players (from left) Meghan Duggan, Lisa Chesson, Jenny Potter, and Julie Chu react after their 2-0 loss to Canada.
Thursday, February 25, 2010 | 8:44 pm
Tonight, Canada took on the USA for the gold medal in women's hockey. Canada won 2-0. After my adventures yesterday in the cold and snow at Whistler, a climate controlled hockey rink was a welcome change. I'm still fighting a cold so the relative rest of shooting a hockey game compared to dragging myself and my gear around a slippery cross country ski course was nice.
I arrived early to the rink. Not too early though. I made that mistake a couple days ago when the US men took on Canada. It was a ticketed event, meaning media have to sign up for “tickets” so the IOC can control how many of us can actually enter the building. I got to Canada Hockey Place REALLY early, so early in fact, I caught the last two periods of the previous game, and sat all by myself for hours before any other shooters showed up. This time, I was a modest two hours before puck drop.
Canada and the US began to beat each other up from the moment go, with physical play on both sides of the puck.
The goaltending really was the difference in the game. Shots on goal were pretty even at 29 to 28, but the Canadian goalkeeper Shannon Szabados was lights out, recording the shutout while the US keeper, Jessie Vetter, let two in. Although Vetter did make some spectacular saves as well.
In the end though, Canada retained their two-goal lead they built in the first period and won the gold medal. Oh Canada.
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